The last two hours of our trip were somewhat boring as the clouds were now much thicker and we could hardly ever see the ground. The few times that we spotted holes between the clouds, we noticed the land was completely white, with only some dark spots near cliff sides. The more time that passed, the more anxious we became about finally reaching the south end of the continent.

A softer sound like air escaping could be heard and I soon realized we were now descending and turning slightly. To my astonishment, just before we entered the cloud bed again, I glimpsed to the south which was now visible from my side window.

A giant wall of clouds towered over the horizon. It looked as if there was an infinite wall of white going as high as I could see, and disappearing on both the east and west edges of the horizon.

This really is the End of the World.

Entering the clouds was now much more unsettling than before. The bright puffs were quickly becoming darker and thicker. So thick in fact that it looked as if the sun had suddenly disappeared. As soon as we emerged on the other side, I realized the sun was indeed hidden from the ground behind a thick layer of snowing clouds.

The ground below us was barely visible as snowflakes flew around us at terrific speeds and the only light source was the torch-fires below. We continued descending rapidly and soon the pitch of the sound made by the ship changed again. Our descent became smoother and I started seeing mountains all around the clear white valley below us.

This must be a portion of the overground part of Snjokomu, the capital of Fjalhun. I had read that the city was massive underground but some of its livestock were sometimes brought above ground to soak up what little natural light was available.

This was not the case at the moment in this particular valley, though I thought I could make out people riding horses underneath us. Our descent was halted and people started gathering at the door we used to enter the ship some ten hours ago.

We picked up our things and joined them as soon as they started leaving. Soon we were standing at the exit of the airship, overlooking a similarly long bridge leading to an opening on the side of a mountain.

This bridge however, looked like it was encased in a thick glass tube. Were it not for this protection, the strong gusts of wind echoing around us, would have almost certainly thrown us down into the white abyss. Crossing the bridge took no more than five minutes and I felt more rejuvenated with every step I took away from Guldan’s nullifiers.

A large room with six rows of desks was waiting for us after a brief walk through the mountain’s corridors. The airship’s passengers were being directed to the people occupying the desks by a young blond woman wearing dark gray furs. The atmosphere here was much warmer than outside, but still quite chilly.

We waited as the line rapidly grew shorter, since people took their seats in front of the desks for a couple of minutes and were then redirected to another corridor on the other side of the room.

I was about to ask Kai if he was hungry when the woman taking care of the flow of people, nodded at us and pointed the desk we should walk to in order to state the purpose of our visit. At least that was what I assumed from what I had overheard thus far. Behind the thin brown desk appointed to us sat a woman dressed similarly to the one who sent us here, though this one had long red hair.

Name : Maira Goldenshovel

Race : Dwarf

Class : Fighter

Level : 18

“I love what you did with your hair,” she said, as soon as we approached. “I wish I had the courage to cut mine so short too!”

My hair, of course, had been cut awfully short while we were enslaved by the pirates who had caught us on the other side of the Endless Sea. In order to remind myself of my mistakes and how I would never let anything like that happen again, I didn’t cast any spells to magically make it longer again.

After almost fourteen months however, my hair had grown long enough to cover my ears again. It wasn’t as long as before by any means, but it had its own wild charm, which I much preferred at this point.

“Thank you,” I replied, putting on my best blushing face and trying not to show the memories in it.

“You must be tired from your trip, so I won’t hold you long,” the woman said with a smile on her face. “What is the purpose of your visit to Snjokomu? Are you staying here or traveling north?”

“Actually,” I started telling the new story I had practiced so many times on the trip here, “we are traveling south. To the monastery at the End of the World. I’m conducting research and we—”

“I’m sorry but that is not a valid reason to enter Snjokomu,” the woman interrupted me, her smile now completely gone. “Do you have a valid reason to enter the city?”

“Well, like I said…” I fumbled, trying to rearrange my words. “We’re trying to reach the monastery. We don’t actually even intend to remain in the city. We just want to pass through.”

“Then you need to find another way,” the woman answered, and closed the large book on the desk in front of her. “Our city is not a path toward a heathen monastery.”

“But how are we supposed to get there?” I asked, pleading with her to let us through. “Our maps don’t show any path other than the one through Snjokomu.”

“The path leading to the monastery is the path going south,” she replied in a steady and calculated way. “Snjokomu is built underground. The path exists above ground as well. Though I wouldn’t advise traveling until the snowstorms cease.”

“The snow looked extremely thick!” Kai exclaimed. “When will the snowstorms stop?”

“They usually soften in… eight to ten weeks’ time,” she said, pausing as she probably calculated the months and days. “They should completely stop in twelve weeks.”

“That’s too long!” Kai almost shouted, and would have, had I not yanked his sleeve. “We can’t wait twelve weeks.”

“The weather conditions are too extreme for people your age to travel aboveground,” the woman explained. “Especially those not native to Fjalhun. You have to wait.”

“So you’re not letting us pass through your city?” I asked one last time. “Not even accompanied by guards?”

The woman didn’t reply but simply shook her head in denial.

“What is it going to be then?” I retorted, seeing that I couldn’t change her mind. “Are you going to throw us out into the same snowstorm you’re advising us to avoid?”

“Of course not!” she replied, as if I had insulted her. “You’ll be provided with temporary chambers until the next airship arrives tomorrow, since the one that brought you here has already left for the day. If you don’t have currency to purchase—”

“We don’t need your money,” Kai said, angrily.

“We just needed to walk through the protection of your city,” I said in a milder tone, as I turned my back to the woman.

“Even if you pass through the city, the monastery is a good two hours away. You’ll still have to wait for the snow to pass, just on the southern side instead,” she said as we were already walking away. “Where are you going? The guest chambers are this way!”

“We are not staying,” I said over my shoulder while continuing to walk away, “where we are not welcome.”